Mexican Border State Political Campaigns Took Millions from Drug Cartels, Say Witnesses

Courtesy B@tichicaILDEFONSO ORTIZ31 May 2016

The Mexican border state of Tamaulipas has a history of demanding cash bribes from drug traffickers in exchange for keeping law enforcement away and letting them cross ton-quantities of drugs through the state and eventually into America. Witnesses say the cartel bribes financed political campaigns for the political elite in the state.

The allegations come from a series of court testimonies taken from protected witnesses under the custody of Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice. Breitbart Texas obtained one of those files. The file reveals a series of allegations that include famous politicians and businessmen in Tamaulipas as having taken part in or who witnessed bribes being paid or deals being made.

One of the politicians mentionedin the allegations as having been present in one of the gatherings where money exchanged hands is current gubernatorial candidate Baltazar Hinojosa Ochoa who at the time was a minor political player. He later became the mayor of Matamoros.

Another politician mentioned as having been present when money was exchanged hand and when deals with cartel bosses were being made is the late Rodolfo Torre Cantu, the brother of the current Tamaulipas governor who was killed by Los Zetas just before the previous gubernatorial election.

The allegations come from the PGR protected witnesses with the code names Angeles, Pedro, Pitufo, Oscar, Yeraldin and Rufino.

Angeles has since been outed as Antonio Pena Arguelles, a political operator who moved to the U.S. and is an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Pedro was outed in blogs as Ruben Ignacio Cavazos Salazar. He claims to have joined the Reynosa municipal police and served as the driver for a former police officer turned cartel boss named Cesar “El Pollo” Eduardo Garcia.

Pitufo was outed by Mexican news outlets as Jose Salvador Puga Quintanilla, a former Zeta that has since been removed from the protected witness status by the PGR.

Oscar is identified in court documents as Cesar Eduardo “El Pollo” Garcia,he was a Tamaulipas state police officer before becoming a cartel member. He eventually became an informant for the U.S. DEA.

In one of his statements, Pena Arguelles confessed to being the link between the Tamaulipas government and cartel members. Pena said that during the early 2000’s he dealt directly between the governor and cartel members on behalf of “El 40.” While the name of the cartel boss is blacked out, the nickname matches with top zeta leader Miguel “40 or Z40” Treviño Morales.

Arguelles spoke of meeting with various cartel bosses in Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo to collect bulk cash shipments from cartel leaders who were sending it for the gubernatorial campaigns The statements made by Arguelles and the other protected witnesses claim that the bribes were paid in order for the government to let the cartels work unimpaired.

The witness identified only as Pedro claimed to have been present at meetings where various cartel bosses delivered suitcases filled with money for the gubernatorial campaigns.

Despite the PGR cases that implicate dozens of Tamaulipas politicians and businessmen, for unknown reasons, the Mexican government has failed to go after them. The Mexican government has also failed to move against Yarrington and Hernandez who both are considered fugitives. Despite his wanted status, Hernandez continues to make public appearances in Tamaulipas where he has been campaigning for his “Amigo”, current gubernatorial candidate Baltazar Hinojosa.